2011 J.League Division 1

FC Tokyo, Kyoto Sanga and Shonan Bellmare were relegated at the end of the 2010 season after finishing in the bottom three places of the table. Shonan had only played one season in Division 1 while Kyoto had enjoyed a three-year stay. FC Tokyo had been in the top flight for eleven seasons. The three relegated teams were replaced by 2010 J.League Division 2 champions Kashiwa Reysol, runners-up Ventforet Kofu and third-placed team Avispa Fukuoka. Kashiwa had made an immediate return to the top division, while Kofu and Fukuoka ended three- and four-year absences respectively. Personnel and kits 1 Subject to change during the season. Foreign players == League table ==

MVP • Leandro Domingues Top scorer • Joshua Kennedy Best XI ==Attendance==

;Notes • Note 1: Kashima Antlers played one game at the Japan National Stadium in Tokyo as the Kashima Soccer Stadium in Kashima was damaged in the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami. ==In popular culture==

This particular season was used as reference in the movie Detective Conan: The Eleventh Striker. Many players in real life actually provide cameo roles for the film, including Kazuyoshi Miura (Yokohama FC), Yasuhito Endō (Gamba Osaka), Yasuyuki Konno (Gamba Osaka), Kengo Nakamura (Kawasaki Frontale), and Seigo Narazaki (Nagoya Grampus). In the movie, a bomber threatens to bomb all the stadiums unless certain conditions are met. The main character, Conan Edogawa, must solve the case and find the culprit. In the movie, two additional fictional teams are added to the squad: Tokyo Spirits and Big Osaka, making the league with 20 teams. ==References==